timbers and boards are in the state, proofs at once of the usefulness
of this timber and the hardihood and ingenuity of the rancher.
But for the barn and stable, pig-stye, hennery, chicken-coop and
fruit boxes, and a great many other things, the rancher patronizes
his reserve log pile instead of the lumber yard, and saves time
and labor in so doing. Another fact which compensates the rancher
in western Washington in the struggle for a home which will provide
a safe and generous support in his old age is that during all the
labor and waiting he is enjoying a delightful climate, in which no
blizzard drives him from his work. No cyclone endangers his life
and fortune. No snakes lurk in the underbrush. No clouds of dust
blind his eyes. No sultry summer suns make him gasp for breath,
and no intense cold freezes his face or feet. He can work if he
wishes as many days as there are in the year, and know that every
stroke of his axe or mattock is a part of his capital safely invested
that will pay back an annual dividend for a lifetime. No soil will
respond to his energy more quickly or more generously.

There is one more possible compensation. Fir logs and stumps and
roots and bark are all full of pitch. Factories are now in operation
that are turning this wood into charcoal and
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saving and refining all the by-products, particularly turpentine,
wood alcohol, pitch and tar. These factories are successful and
paying dividends, but are on a large scale and permanently located.
It is probable that some genius will soon evolve a movable plant,
capable of serving the same purpose, which can go from one ranch
to another. When this is done, it will be found that the refuse
left by the logger is worth several times more than the cost of
getting it off the land with powder and fire, and, instead of being